hello, love this magazine! great info! i am looking for land in upstate new york near rochester or possible albany and wondering which has better land for gardening and whats cheaper!! thanx

-- ken steck (kenns1@hotmail.com), October 01, 2001

Answers

Hehe have to laugh upstate .Sorry I live in UPSTATE NY near the canadian border .Land will still be high in the areas you mentioned .Are you willing to move farther north ?

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 01, 2001.

I had to chuckle too Patty, we lived in western NYS and we always referred to where you're at as upstate. The price of real estate is somewhat cheaper, ...... wait, jsut thought of this, in fact, our old farm house is for sale in Forestville, NY if you are interested. the folks who bought it are selling it and moving to TN. It has an acre and a half, barns, 4 car garage, had a huge garden spot when we lived there, an outside wood furnace, hmmmm... what else? oh, the most important thing, a fantastic view of Lake Erie. if you're interested let me know i can get you their contact information.

But the only thing about NYS is the taxes.... HELP!!!! I'd still be ther eif there were job opportinities and lower taxes. I sure miss home, NYS is really a great place to live. Good luck.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), October 01, 2001.

Taxes thats easy , get a good accountant and file as a farm .Oops 4 kids help to.We actually spend less on taxes than we did when we lived in Conn, we get close to 100% back.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 01, 2001.

Ken,

I lived in the Rochester area several years ago, and currently live north of Albany. Both areas have many nice features, so you should explore both. Rochester might be a tad warmer in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of Lake Ontario. The downside is that the lake produces heavy snowstorms when the wind blows off it. Snow squalls off that lake even hit my area in winter.

Check out timesunion.com (go to "Homeport") for land in the Albany area. Land in Montgomery and Schoharie counties ( west of Albany) can be reasonably priced.

I love New York! Both of my kids and my granddaughter live in southern CA, and they want me to move out there. I love my family, but 100 degrees...desert...water problems...earthquakes???!!!

-- bluetick (coonhound@mindspring.com), October 01, 2001.

Bargins can still be had. I was offered a nice deal just S. of Lake George, 4+ acres with a small stream for $60k "problem" was......you couldn't sub-divide, a snowmobile trail to Canada ran thru (Hot Tody's anyone!?)and it was adjacent to state land! Sounded like a dream to me! Close enough to the resort areas to get work. My problem is my kids are still in school and I have a job with bennies that I'd be daft in the head to leave. Maybe another time. Like I said though, you can still find a deal, if you look hard enough.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), October 01, 2001.

p.s. it came with a 2 bdrm house and free garage.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), October 01, 2001.

Ken, if you want to garden, look for land near Geneva, which is south of Rochester. It's some of the better zoned for weather in NYS,and Cornell U. has research for small fruits and fruit trees in that area just for that reason. It's also in the apple belt of NYS.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), October 01, 2001.

Try land in the Jefferson County, Alexandria Bay and Clayton area is really nice except for the snow and cold weather, but that is nice too if you have the liking for snow.

We lived just outside A-Bay for about 14 years and I would still be there if DH didn't hate the snow and cold so much. I'm in Missouri now and would rather be in NY anyday. The hot and cold part of the weather is ok here but the tornadoes just spaz me out.

We always had a really great garden in NY now we farm rocks.

Sally

-- sally stanton (mallardhen67@hotmail.com), October 02, 2001.

Do you have to have a certain number of acres to file as a farm??? Is there a certain minimum acres??? We too are moving back to the North East. We're from Vt but moved to TN. Been here 8yrs. Time to Move back! My son is going to transfer to a college there as soon as we decide on an area.

-- PJC (zpjc5_@hotmail.com), October 02, 2001.

Look into land in Cattaragus or Allagany county in south east New York. I have 87 acres and paid an average of $325 per acre. Lots of hardwood forest and about 15-20 acres of pasture. If you get over 50 acres of forest land look at a section 480a tax exemption, it can reduce the tax on forest land by 80%. You have to be willing to do some improvements to the forest and when it's timbered you have to pay a portion of the timber sale to the county but it's more than worth it for the tax break.

-- Paul (Treewizard@buffalo.com), October 02, 2001.

Hmmmmm.... tax exemption, forest land, timber, hmmm.... got me thinking, sounds attractive enough to move back home from AR. We lived just over the border in Chatauqua County. Now to find a buyer for this ranch here. Hubby would kill me, but hey, home is home:):0

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), October 02, 2001.

I had no clue about the forest tax break thanks I will look into it .As for filing as a farm I dont know if there is a min amount of land needed .You have to show you are making an honest attempt to make money off the farm .This could be raising livestock , honey ,treefarming , produce ,pick your own , the list goes on .You can deduct farm vechiles , taxes ,part of power , phone , insurance , equiptment , clothing ,heat and so on.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), October 02, 2001.

forgot to mention we filed farm while living in western nYS, in fact it was our neighbor who mentioned doing it. i wa sskeptic because w eonly had an acre and half, however, we were doing it for business not hobby. Sold produce, eggs, meat on the hoof and milk. but that wa sback in the 80's.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), October 02, 2001.

Im not sure how it works in that state but in minnesota when you file for the tax exempt on forest land you also have to agree to have it CUT down within a certain time. personally i would rather pay the taxes then have BARE land there eventually which in turn BRINGS DOWN the value of the land..

-- David (drollb@aol.com), October 04, 2001.

Go with Bernice, I live in Forestville also, and it's great. Allegheny and Cattauragus have higher taxes than Chautauqua County (less folks to spread the costs). We built our own house on 4 acres, bought the land from the farmer down the road. I've lived in several states around the country, and NY taxes aren't that bad compared to some places. And our school system is well worth the taxes. But you'll find reasonable prices for acreage. Check out the Leon, Randolph, Sherman area. Around Lake Chautauqua will tend to be higher, but all in all, the style of living is great for us country folks. Good luck.

-- Dodi Kingsfield (blackbear06@hotmail.com), October 17, 2001.